December 2008
Report Leadership in Government
InsightMSC & CIMA recently delivered a joint session on Report Leadership in Government at the annual Government Finance Profession (GFP) Conference in Brighton on 13-14 November 2008.
As part of the session we invited the audience to participate in the discussion and complete a questionnaire on a number of key issues. Thank you to all that provided their views and suggestions.
If you didn’t have the opportunity to attend this session; you are a senior finance professional in Central Government and would like to be part of the discussion and influence best practice reporting in your industry please complete the attached questionnaire and return it to lauramezzalira@insightmsc.co.uk or by fax on 0870 868 1728.
Our aim is to build on the material already produced by CIMA in report leadership in the private sector and produce a public sector specific version which reflects the key requirements and challenges of government reporting.
As both InsightMSC and CIMA contribute to the HM Treasury Financial Management Best Practice Advisory Panels, our intention is that this group will take forward the work involved in creating the public sector report leadership output and support government organisations achieve better and more effective financial reporting.
The aim of this session was to raise awareness of recent work done in best practice financial reporting in the private sector (CIMA Report Leadership) and how it can be applied to Central Government.
Given the increasing trend to inform in a more transparent and comparable basis over a wider intended audience, and directed by various initiatives including IFRS, Companies Act 2006, Clear Line of Sight project, what do the Departments need to and want to tell from a financial perspective?
A recent report of the Public Accounts Committee ‘Managing financial resources to deliver better public services’ points to many areas of where financial management needs to be strengthened and comments:
“Few departmental boards are presented with accurate, timely and integrated financial and operational performance information to enable them to take sufficiently informed decisions on the use of resources and to review how well they are utilised.”
The key theme of the CIMA Report Leadership is ‘Accessible, Effective and Practical’ reporting. Central Government reporting has a similar aim. We looked at how we can use and build on the work previously done in this area.
Main areas included: What are the key financial messages to be conveyed? How can these messages be universally of interest whilst retaining objectivity? How could they sit alongside the wider messages on social and economic policy?
Points covered ranged from the very practical, simple and presentational through to the ‘key performance indicators’ (KPIs) and links to delivery strategy.
To download a copy of the presentation slides please click here
If you have any queries or wish to discuss this topic further please contact us at info@insightmsc.co.uk or on 020 7952 4691
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